Trauma surgery team saves soccer player’s life, college career

[Music playing]

[Text on screen: Nathan Demian
Ohio State University Soccer Athlete]

Nathan Demian:
It started out as one of arguably probably the greatest days of my life, of definitely my soccer career. We beat the ACC Champs 3-0, and we were headed to the final four. All the hard work and all the dreams that we had talked about at the beginning of the year, and all those two-a-days, and all those long sessions in the hot sun and things like that was finally coming to fruition. Yeah, it was just an amazing day, and then obviously it changed. I hear a gunshot, and then I couldn't breathe. I remember I looked down at my shirt and all I see is red, and I yell at my brother like, "Joel, Joel, I think I got shot." I just remember in the ambulance, just kept saying, "Please save me, please save me."

[Text on screen: Andrew Young, MD
Trauma Surgeon
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center]

Andrew Young, MD:
We had a level one trauma alert, which is our highest level, he still had a bullet inside of him and it was near the spine. The risk of him being very sick very quickly, bleeding to death was all very real, and this could happen within minutes, and so we needed to take action quickly. The other thing that I was thinking was that, gee, this kid is young, and he plays soccer, he might even be a professional soccer player one day, and I'm worried that this is going to affect the rest of his life.

Nathan Demian:
I always knew it was serious, but it never once crossed my mind, maybe it was the adrenaline, but it never once crossed my mind that I actually wouldn't play in the game. They had told me, "Hey, you don't understand how lucky you are to actually even be here."

[Text on screen: Lisa Cunningham, MD
Colon & Rectal Surgeon
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center]

Lisa Cunningham, MD:
Nathan had a lot going for him to get him back to the field expeditiously. Number one, his age, and going into all of this, he was super healthy, super fit, but he's also super motivated. And so, you can see folks who are healthy and young not do as well because they don't have the same intrinsic motivation, and I think that was a huge driver for why he did so well.

Nathan Demian:
I had lost 30 pounds, I was skin and bones, I was nowhere near playing weight or anything like that. Once I got the okay from the doctors, "Hey, you actually can get back on the field, it's not going to be easy, but you actually have the potential and you have that opportunity," it was like, well, now the only thing that's going to stop me is going to be me, and I wasn't going to let that happen.

[Text on screen: Jennifer Knight Davis, MD
Trauma Surgeon
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center]

Jennifer Knight Davis, MD:
I see a lot of similarities between Nathan's life as a soccer player and being on a team, and our team as a trauma center, so being able to see some of those linkages and similarities I think is pretty cool.

Andrew Young, MD:
I saw him on his opening day, just less than a year later, playing on the field. And not just playing, he was starting as a captain and running around the whole game. So, it was amazing to see, it was truly amazing.

Jennifer Knight Davis, MD:
Seeing patients from their initial injury in the trauma bay back to completely normal life is really rewarding.

Nathan Demian:
What's the worst that can happen now? I feel like I've already been through the worst and I've overcame it. I wasn't going to let something that happen when I was 22 ruin the rest of my life. I had a lot of dreams, I had a lot of goals that I still wanted to go and achieve.

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
For more information, visit: go.osu.edu/trauma-surgery]

[Music fades]